I try to spend a few minutes ahead of shooting for a challenge about what everyone else probably will be shooting, and then avoid that. This round I came up with cars and chains. Now, personally I wound up with a car anyway but figured it's such a "nice find" it would pass the mass anyway.

Your chain on the other hand, doesn't. It's "just another chain", and although there's nothhing wrong with your picture, it has technical merits, great focus, is crisp and clear, has a good chain-angle and DOF that makes for a composition, it still strikes me as "just another chain".

Being only human I vote a lot on feeling and you would have scored higher from me (and most likely others) having been alone with the chain, perhaps in another challenge. I haven't voted you down in any way, I just couldn't bring myself to mark you up either.